Westminstenders: Following the EU lead

[RedToothBrush]

Coronavirus poses a particularly Irish shaped question. How the UK responds to Irish plans for ending lockdown and whether Arlene continues to back an all Ireland plan will be fascinating to watch and see justified regardless of which way we go.

The UK for all its new found independence is looking very closely to the success / failure of EU strategies before making our own plan public. Mainly because we've yet to write one.

Johnson hasn't led much. He's delegated. Yet he gets all the praise for doing the sum total of fuck all and never being the bad guy. There always another fall guy to blame.

Economically we are stuffed and promises of a very quick bounce back don't look likely based on public confidence and willingness to return to places like pubs restaurants and shops.

Our ability to adapt to new conditions at short notice has been tested and businesses can not afford to do this again soon.

This is the background to which we go into talks. Both sides need an extension to serve their best interests. Johnson is determined to cut our nose of to spite our face for the sake of his legacy and to keep those paying the back handers and dodging tax happy.

Also - an anonymous "code review" with no actual code cited by someone called "pseudonym" who says they worked at Google on a blog called "Lockdown Skeptics?"

It's still shitty code, even after the refactoring attempt. I had a look. It's bad. But yes, the spin on that blog especially saying academic epidemiologists should be defunded is bonkers.

@singasonga you're attacking the messenger - as s/he says the code has been released by imperial: github.com/mrc-ide/covid-sim
go look - nothing there that contradicts what s/he says.

As for anonymity s/he is unlikely to be able to comment as an identifiable person - think about it.

Reopening Schools

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/should-schools-reopen-kids-role-pandemic-still-mystery#

The countries reopening schools may soon provide a reality check.

If children are ample virus spreaders after all, cases could surge in a matter of weeks.

And if they aren’t, parents and policymakers will heave a sigh of relief and more countries may follow.

For now, the natural experiment proceeds.

“Everyone is looking at each other,” Van den Hof says, “to see what will happen” next.

‘We have had zero information': GPs in the dark over Covid-19 tests

Local authorities and GPs yet to receive detailed data and patient records from Deloitte tests

The results of hundreds of thousands of coronavirus tests carried out at privately run drive-through centres in England have not yet been shared with GPs or local authorities, who complain they have “no idea” where local disease clusters are.

Nick Mann, a GP at the Well Street surgery in Hackney, London, is one of many doctors to complain this has not happened. “As a GP I’m absolutely fuming, not only with the way it’s been mishandled but with the unreliable information we are getting,” he said. “This government has developed a completely parallel system in order to bypass the NHS, and it’s failing.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/we-have-had-zero-information-gps-in-the-dark-over-covid-19-tests

That's ridiculous

Germany has been using a network of over 200 labs across the country, many of them private,
but all data is sent every day to RKI (German federal public health authority) for central distribution and collation.

The local health authority, local doctors and public health officers receive full details for their area within a day

Merkel has just given the green light for 1. and 2. Bundesliga to start "Geisterspiel" (matches behind closed doors)
from about 15 May

So we'll all have some footie to watch on the TV, even though noone can watch in person

https://www.kicker.de/775054/artikel/politikgibttgrueneslichttfuerfortsetzunggderbundesligaasaison

Of course the UK Govt's approach is ridiculous - it's all Private sector good, public sector bad again. Now though, they have to find even sneakier ways of privatising the NHS and hoping that we don't notice.

But on the other hand, the testing is being shown up to be a shambles, which won't do the reputations of the private firms any good.

Brexit: UK may accept tariffs on goods to strike trade deal with EU, Michael Gove says

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-trade-deal-eu-tariffs-michael-gove-a9500081.html

During the evidence given to the Lords EU committee, Mr Gove also:

• Insisted the EU would fail if it asked the UK for a transition extension, 🤔 saying:
  “We think it would be in nobody’s interest. I can’t imagine anything other than no.”

• Admitted there will be border checks in the Irish Sea – after Boris Johnson repeatedly denied it
  – but refused to reveal details.

• Agreed the UK would be at risk of a Donald Trump trade war 🤔 if the transition was extended, saying:
  “Precisely so, precisely right.”

• Insisted there would be no medicine shortages if there is a no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020, 🤔 arguing:
  “We have done the work already.”

• Hinted at “flexibility” that might extend the settled status scheme for EU citizens in the UK if necessary, because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Local authorities and GPs yet to receive detailed data and patient records from Deloitte tests

That's what happened in Scotland - Deloitte refused to share information from the (Westminster) Government drive-through centres (eg at Glasgow Airport) with the Scottish Government, citing GDPR . It took until the end of April to be sorted.

The information was apparently only "allowed" to be given to the individuals who were tested

I suppose those individuals could somehow band together to coordinate a national action plan, work out where the hot spots were and do any contact tracing themselves

All very depressing. I don't believe for one moment that the have sorted out the medicines issue.

Let's hope that Donald Trump loses in November and then slavishly kowtowing to the US won't be quite as attractive.

I hope that those EU citizens who are in a position to do so tell Gove what they think of his extended settled status scheme by voting with their feet. As for us, this is what the majority voted for, so they have no reason to complain if the NHS collapses.

But on the other hand, the testing is being shown up to be a shambles, which won't do the reputations of the private firms any good.

Doesnt seem to make a blind bit of difference to this government Atos is still around albeit after a name change but still Atos and still business as usual despite the constant failings but theyre really good at punishing the disabled

Another day, another story that you couldn’t make up. The much talked about Turkish shipment of PPE is unusable because it failed safety checks

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52569364

It’s farcical, isn’t it QueenOfThorns?
Like the Chinese ventilators that didn’t work/were dangerous.
What a waste of money.

LONDON — Senior British doctors have warned that 250 ventilators the United Kingdom bought from China risk causing "significant patient harm, including death," if they are used in hospitals, according to a letter seen by NBC News.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1194046

Oh don’t get me started, HesterThrale! This and the amount of money that is/has been pissed away over Brexit just makes my blood boil.

More stories you couldn't make up.

Professor who has been named as a SAGE member, isn't

twitter.com/DCFRowe/status/1257930687853846533

I literally can't sieve through the lies any more. Is it just Cummings and some lackeys in a room? Would explain a lot

The Turkish shipment of PPE is unusable because it failed safety checks.

It's like some smelly rug salesman (in both senses) came up and whispered in BJ's ear: Dirty Postcard, Effendi? And you want buy PPE? Very Very Good......

And this is what you get when people who are good at campaigning by actively misleading people win elections and then govern like they're still campaigning. Just wave your arms about and mention Cicsero. Good Old Fucking Boris, Eh?

That's what happened in Scotland - Deloitte refused to share information from the (Westminster) Government drive-through centres (eg at Glasgow Airport) with the Scottish Government, citing GDPR confused. It took until the end of April to be sorted. hmm

The information was apparently only "allowed" to be given to the individuals who were tested confused

Covid is a publicly notifiable disease! Like TB and Smallpox. Has to be reported to local authority. List of notifiable diseases

Let’s not forget that Matt Hancock’s mate Lord Bethell, who is said to be unpaid ‘lead minister’ for testing, who also contributed 5 grand to Hancock’s leadership bid, is an ex PR guy and lobbyist who:

represented businesses with major NHS contracts, such as Ingeus UK and Healthlogistics. In 2017, Healthlogistics boasted how it had made “major inroads into NHS trusts” providing data management services to hospitals.

The lobbying firm was also reportedly behind the launch of Doctors for Reform, a campaign backed by the rightwing thinktank Reform, which advocated opening up the NHS to private healthcare providers and introducing insurance-based funding to the health system.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/testing-efforts-led-by-ex-lobbyist-who-backed-hancock-leadership-bid

My copy of Private Eye arrived this morning.
2 page MD column - a very very interesting read.

Test Trace Test Trace Test Trace Test Trace

Sod the vaccine, that will be too little too late

Test Trace
Lockdown and made up 2m rule not needed if you make those two work

Professor who has been named as a SAGE member, isn't.

Duncan Rowe-
"Just heard on BBCR4 a professor of epidemiology from Edinburgh University."I am not on the SAGE committee. I know my name is on the UK Govt website listing me as a member of SAGE." "I do not know why they have done that but I am not a member of the UK Govt SAGE committee."

If his name was on the list it isn't there now;

List of participants of SAGE and related sub-groups -

www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups

Someone on the twitter link has highlighted a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology from Edinburgh University who is on the list - same job, same university - just a mix up somewhere - can't see a conspiracy as suggested on twitter.

www.ed.ac.uk/profile/mark-woolhouse

As for anonymity s/he is unlikely to be able to comment as an identifiable person - think about it.

Frankiestein, I have no interest in attacking valid critique of code. (I know what GitHub is and how it works.) I am questioning a number of features of that blogpost: the timing, the purpose of the blog, the "unidentifiable-but-easily-identified-as-an-expert-to-laypeople-because-Google" writer, and finally the obvious tech-libertarian bias that lead to that incredible comment about defunding all academic epidemiology in favour of the insurance sector. If you could get through all that and think this is just about code quality, you're being willfully obtuse.

I would really like to see the UK contact tracing app code published on GitHub. No-one's asking about that now, are they? Handy.

I am also thinking about your comment about a valid critique of published code requiring anonymity. I can't think of a reason why, given that peer review is culturally normal in universities, and basically the reason d'etre of GitHub. What is your logic on that?

Personally, I would love to know who wrote that article and who's set up that blog.

"just a mix up somewhere - can't see a conspiracy as suggested on twitter."

I generally look for cockup, before conspiracy

Singasonga
Prof Ferguson's cataclysmic projections in previous events were a story in the last Private Eye.
The fact that his current disaster predictions are based on poorly written code should be a matter for concern.
The blog is neither here nor there.
Techie friends I shared it with are much more interested in the code
and they are NOT impressed.

It would be very alarming to be wrongly identified as belonging to SAGE though:

a target for every conspiracy nut
and every neighbour with a grudge against your noisy parties / kids / lawnmower

Your illicit shags revealed to millions

I would really like to see the UK contact tracing app code published on GitHub. No-one's asking about that now, are they? Handy.

I was on the other thread. I also commented it should be FOSS. I suspect Google will drop the source code to their project when it's released. (Like Android).